Top U.S. negotiator to the six-party
talks Christopher Hill (L) arrives in Beijing, China, July 17, 2007.
(Xinhua Photo)

BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Top U.S. negotiator to
the six-party talks Christopher Hill arrived in Beijing on Tuesday morning to
participate in a meeting which gathers chief delegates to the six-party talks.

"We've got a lot of work to do, and we've got a lot
of catching-up to do," Hill said upon arrival at the airport.

He said he will hold bilateral meetings with the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) side later Tuesday, and probably
bilateral meetings with the Russian side the same day and the Japanese tomorrow
morning.

The two-day meeting of the six-party talks on the
Korean Peninsula nuclear issue is planned to start in Beijing on July 18,during
which the chief delegates are expected to discuss issues related to the initial
actions for denuclearization and explore arrangements of steps that will follow.

The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) has confirmed on Monday that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
(DPRK) has shut down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, which marked a step towards
the denuclearization of Korean Peninsula.

Under the Feb 13 agreement reached during the
six-party talks, the DPRK pledged to shut down the Yongbyon reactor within 60
days in the first phase in exchange for 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil or
equivalent aid.

The six sides are scheduled to hold a meeting of
foreign ministers after implementing the initial steps, according to the
agreement.

"We'll have a ministerial, but we've got to work on the timing and then work on exactly what we're going to do," Hill said.